Components exhibiting a complex geometry can also be manufactured powder-metallurgically if the components are assembled from separately compacted starting bodies and the starting bodies are permanently and firmly connected to each other in a material fit by collective sintering. A process for manufacturing composite-sintered machine components is for example known from EP 1 923 155 B1, in which a cylindrical inner member and a disc-shaped outer member are each individually compacted from an iron-based alloy powder and are sintered to each other to form a firm composite. The cylindrical inner member is formed with pillars which protrude axially into holes in the disc-shaped outer member. The pillars, when being compacted, are formed with a radial excess such that they protrude into the respective hole in a press fit and are thus firmly connected to the disc-shaped outer member across their circumferential areas when the two are collectively sintered. Comparable teachings are contained in DE 197 52 380 A1 and DE 10 2008 028 640 A1, which likewise describe the composite-sintering of compacts which are separately formed from an iron-based alloy powder. In accordance with this prior art, too, assembling the compacts in a radial press fit is also a precondition for creating the sintered composite. Compacting the starting bodies and/or compacting them in a press fit presupposes that the starting bodies are formed to an exact and narrow tolerance. Positioning the compacts which are to be sintered to each other in the respective press fit also incurs expense and takes time.